Delicious: Kolaches at Bake and Play

Blueberry kolache: Photo by Brittany Nunn

A little more than a year ago, three East Dallas women joined forces to open Bake and Play Café at Mockingbird and Abrams. It was designed to be a parent-kid haven, featuring a supervised play area and a baking room for the kiddos, along with a café with Wi-Fi and a full menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the adults. In the year since it opened, neighbors have latched onto the “bake and play” part of the concept, but they seem to be forgetting one thing — the café. Every morning, Bake and Play serves up a fresh batch of baked goods. In particular, Bake and Play has three types of kolaches, co-owner Kelly Kemp points out. There are multiple fruit-filled kolache options, as well as meat-filled kolaches made with eggs and either bacon, ham or sausage. Bake and Play also serves pigs in a blanket, which some Texans consider to be kolaches. To help give a needed kick to the café side of things, Bake and Play recently brought on Bernadette Fisher, the owner of long-standing Angelo’s restaurant in Lakewood before it closed last year. During the fall, they’re hoping to resurrect some old Angelo’s dishes, such as the lasagna and the beloved bread pudding. “That’ll be the biggest change we’re looking forward to, is Bernadette bringing her recipes back to life,” Kemp says. Bake and Play also plans to serve staples like its chicken breast, slow-roast pot roast and salmon fillet, each with a seasonal spin.